The attempted invasion of Ukraine started almost two and half years ago, 24/2/22, a date almost as easy to remember as 9/11! Atrocities in Palestine more recently took over the news, first with Hamas killing 1,609 on 7th October last year and since then nearly 39,000 Palestinians killed in the Israeli retaliation. News is now dominated by the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and English disappointment at losing the European football final - at least at the time of writing - who knows what comes next!

Ukraine's situation continues to be desperate, with maybe 11,000 civilians and 35,000 soldiers killed, only dwarfed by 180,000 killed out of a total of 500,000 Russian casualties. Exact statistics are not available, those numbers come from internet reports seen through the fog of war. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is by far the most awful occurrence since the last world war, and even worse than the Gaza conflict, which rightly appals most of us!

What we can do is very limited, though we saw our brand new Foreign Minister immediately visiting Ukraine after the election to confirm unchanged British support. He has also been in Israel and Palestine, but politics there is caught between two opposing views. The only common feature is that neither party to a two-state solution would tolerate the other! We have to leave that one in the hands of God or Allah, while hoping the Heavenly Host can guide politicians to find a way through the minefield!

For us, there is an ongoing need for more Ukrainian mothers and children to be housed here. Please email homesforukrainesupport@eastdevon.gov.uk or call 01395 517404 if you have a spare room or want more information. The UK government grants £500 per month to those hosting Ukrainian refugees. We personally have Ukrainian tenants, and our experience is that Ukrainian people are very much like ourselves. EDDC has Ukrainian staff in its resettlement team, so emails will immediately reach knowledgeable contacts.

A university friend spent time teaching in Ukraine years ago and described the kids he taught as very much like our own. He then did the same in central Russia and came back with a Russian wife, so can tell us that factual information is hard to find in Russia. Telephone calls are monitored and everyone is extremely careful. However, on the personal level, there are even more Russian mothers and families grieving from their awful losses than in Ukraine.

On a positive note, it is wonderful to see Ukraine refugees fully appreciating our English attitudes and ways of doing things, including the educational opportunity for children. In their experience, our much criticised 'special needs' education in England is regarded as wonderful, and much better than in Ukraine.

We may not win the football, but we get some things right - or at least do better than many others! We did beat the Spanish Armada in 1588, though maybe Drake would have been ruled 'offside' for keeping his ships in Plymouth Sound under the protection of harbour guns while our favourite wind blew the Armada up the channel!

Our little corner of the world is quite comfortable, so all we can do is to contribute what we can to those in greater need than ourselves, including, maybe, giving Ukraine refugees a safe place they can temporarily call home, but no doubt with lasting memories.